eagle sock, blood on the sidewalk, coffee and a day planner

How to study and succeed.

I'm definitely no expert at studying...heck I even have a tattoo that says "C's GET DEGREES" on it as proof. But I am in the midst of a really insane intensive course that involves a lot of memorization and moves really quickly, and I thought I'd share some of the ways I'm staying afloat in this course. No, actually, not just staying afloat. I'm maintaining about a 95% average in this course.

Here are some things that are working for me:

1. Do all the exercises provided in the textbook and by your instructor. Even if they're monotonous as hell and you think you know it all, just do them. There's something about the repetition that really sticks things into your brain.

2. Flashcards. I mean hella flashcards. I allow myself the use of one hundred flash cards per chapter in my textbook. They work really well for me, although I know they're not for everybody.

Each one of those stacks you can see is for one chapter. 

3. Attend class. I mean every time. What? You don't want to? Yeah, you know what? Nobody really wants to be there. It's not fun. It's work and it's boring and it's hard and annoying and inconvenient. But going to class gives you that one little edge on the material. You can ask questions and be active in the learning process, which creates connections in your brain and helps with understanding.

4. Read all the material, before the class you're going to be learning it, if you can. This way you have a grasp on what you will be learning before the instructor starts in on it and you can think of more in-depth connections and questions to ask in class.

5.  After class I go over the textbook and take notes on the chapter we just talked about. I write everything relevant out in point form, or in a way that is easier for me to remember and understand.



6. Do not let yourself fall behind. Push yourself.

7. I doodle. A lot. In class and while I'm taking my textbook notes. I re-draw diagrams and write things out in little stupid flowcharts and lists so I can understand them better. It makes things a bit more interesting sometimes.

8. Use fun office supplies if you're a dork like me, to make it a bit more pretty.

Pro Tip: If your textbook is too heavy and you have no plans on selling it back at the end of the term, just rip the pages out and put them into duo-tangs. Just be really sure about it first!

Double Pro Tip: Get a day planner you love, it's totally worth it.

links

 

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This is one of the best pillow designs I've ever seen.

Photoshop Troll never fails to make me laugh.

What's the kindest thing anyone's ever done for you? 

The Hipster Games. (video) (Thanks Caitlin)

All Danielle's photos of her kitties! D'aww. 

How to make dry shampoo from common household ingredients. Couldn't be simpler.  I've never tried dry shampoo, have you? Is it weird?

No one likes going to Nana's house.

Are you a Harry Lloyd fan? Then go here and read a fangirl's account of meeting him.

Drive thru fire wallet. (video)

How to win at instagram. 

Did you know? (Thanks Suzy)

"Inspiration is for amateurs, the rest of us just show up and work." YES

These t-shirts with a vegan message. 

Diversify.  (Thanks Mikel)

Three things I learned in film school. 

All you ever wanted to know about food combining. (Thanks Kyla)

If your website's full of assholes, it's your fault. (Thanks Gala)

Finding Goatse: The mystery man behind the most disturbing meme in history.

Boy_Wonder's photostream. Really neat photography. 

The pregnancy fetish, as explained by pregnancy fetishists.  (Thanks Dani)

A handy chart of doggie language.

12 creative ideas that will change your life. I already do the straw thing if I drink out of a pop can so I am basically a genius. (Thanks Sarah)

NSFW and not for the weak of heart - Aokigahara Suicide Forest. (video) So interesting!

Fallen princesses. Awesome photos by Dina Goldstein of what may have happened to those fancy Disney ladies after their movie ended.  (Thanks Caitlin)

The ultimate guide for making your periods suck less.

Hey, do you know what state The Simpsons live in? Matt Groening leaked it! Sort of?

Dear world.  (Thanks Susannah)

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 From Cat Versus Human, which I just read and laugh at histerically because it's all so true! Ah, cats. Oh yeah and they have a store. Personally I'd love one of these shirts in grey.

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Caine's arcade. I think kids with this much initiative should be encouraged indefinitely.

In defense of two spaces after a period. For the record I HATE the two-spaces.

How to be a great (house) guest. (Thanks Sarah V.)

Five awesome tips to amp up your customer service. 

I love that The Bloggess got on CNN to talk about political viewpoints and somehow worked zombie apocalypse and "lady garden" into a three minute interview. Nice.

The battle for a comic-book empire that Archie built.

Letting your creativity flourish.

True story: I'm an online dominatrix. 

I know this is just one gigantic advertisement for Nike but this video still made my heart go crazy because I want to jet set around the planet like this so badly. Maybe with more than ten days for my entire itinerary though, these guys must have been running non-stop.  (Thanks Gala)

Deleting your instagram account? Here's how to save your pics. (Thanks Kellie)

How to get more likes on Facebook. So true.

How to actually get a job with a Liberal Arts degree. 

Ogres and Trolls - on free speech on the internet.

The Big Caption.

What makes you feel old?

How to cross the street in Vietnam. 

The color run looks like so. Much. Fun. I'd totally do it if I lived in any of those cities.  

Are you missing out on some iconic tragedy? I hadn't heard of Pol Pot until I was in my mid-twenties.  And I still don't know what people are talking about when they say "the lindbergh baby" OR "the hindenburg".

The best advertisement I've ever seen maybe. (video) (Thanks Suzy)

You don't hate your body. (video) (Thanks PGPT)

13 films to give you the creeps. 

Weaving a new world. (Thanks Susannah)

Rescue pet. So creepy. 

Cuban kitchens after fifty years of US trade embargo.

Knock out bullying. Please everybody, this includes adult bullies too. 

Oh haaaay URINE here too? Chelle illustrates an embarrassing moment.

I hope you enjoyed the internet this week. Well, see ya later.

decrepit

This building is so sad. It's in one of the best locations in the entire city, on the water, right downtown, and is just rotting and falling apart. Whoever owns it refuses to sell it or do anything with it. And so it stays.

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I went to the gym for the first time in probably eight years yesterday. It was super intimidating for the first little bit but luckily Ryan was there as my safety net. If I didn't know what to do next I could just go up to him and pretend to have a casual conversation or something. I also used the water fountain as the place to go and scope out the machines.

I am really out of shape, you guys. My muscles were so confused, but also happy, so I think I'll be going back soon.

One thing I do not understand is this culture of picking people up at the gym though. I guess it's a great place to find super hot people. Oh and if you're really into fitness I suppose it's cool to know that everybody in that one place has similar interests to you...but here's a tip: if there's a visibly awkward person wearing purposefully non-alluring workout gear and actually working up a sweat while listening to an iPod, and is there with her boyfriend that person is not looking to be hit on. I guarantee it. Go for the ones wearing makeup.

Good mail day!

Good thing I arrived at work early...the mail lady came and knocked on the window a few minutes after I walked in the door and said I had to sign for something. I thought it would be some kind of ink or some other boring tattoo shop thing...but it was for me!!! From Amalie in Japan!!!

Of course I threw the shirt on immediately and took photos of myself wearing it because fuck yeah! 

And then I continued to photograph myself and my reaction to each thing in the package. First I opened the card because my mom always drilled it into me that that's the polite thing to do when you get a gift.

Yeah I have seizures when I read. Then I noticed a super cute journal...

... but there was nothing written in it. And I was not amused.  So I tried some candy.

 There was some folding paper...dual colored, NBD.

Two thumbs up, dudes. And what is this?

Pineapples? Funny cute children playing baseball? I do not understand Japanese candy.

This one is definitely more candy, I thought, trying to explode it with my mind. 

...mints...

...to see if it smelled spicy, of course.

I also got my gst cheque today, which is always a surprise to me even though I've been getting them regularly since I was eighteen years old. Somehow my stupid math brain can't understand finances like, ever. Aren't good mail days the best?

I think I'm going to try and make a paper crane or two tomorrow. Yay!


p.s. the t-shirt is from Inkrat Tattoo in Tokyo, you should go get tattooed by them if you ever get a chance! 

diptych: panhandler and a weather vane

tat party in stolen pictures!

Well as usual I work in the most fun shop on the planet. This week we had our friend Chris Hold over from Vancouver. He was tattooing up a storm for four days and making fart and boob jokes a-plenty. Ah, we missed him.

I didn't get in on this one. I didn't even stick around to watch, as I am a wimp and didn't want to take the Saturday night bus in the dark. So these photos were all taken by Sarah Kramer, on her iPhone, and then I stole it from her Twitter feed.

First Chris tattooed this little apple on Sarah. The bite marks make a heart! Awww

And then Chris got tattooed. This is some kind of stencil placement pose, I believe.

Gerry and Kyle both tattooed him. At the same time, apparently! haha

Chris got a rad frog from Kyle. He also got the shop tattoo. It's a tradition we have, everybody who works here gets the tattoo eventually. When they earn a place in the family. It's very exclusionary, haha. Anyway Chris did his apprenticeship at Tattoo Zoo years ago, and never ended up getting one, so Gerry gave him one last night finally. AWWWW

And check out this gnarly picture of it Sarah took. AWESOME.